Call to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet.

The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), formally announced today, aims to accelerate progress in the international effort to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the Internet.SPARC and SPARC Europe participated in the creation of BOAI and have signed the founding statement of intent, along with the Association of Research Libraries and many other organizations and individuals. The OSI Information Program of the Soros Foundations Network has committed funding of 1 million US dollars per year for three years in support of BOAI and open access projects. SPARC and SPARC Europe participated in the creation of BOAI and signed the Initiative because access to knowledge is the central purpose of scholarly communication. A system built on open access offers the prospect of being less expensive to operate and of better serving scholars, the scholarly process, and society. Given these fundamentals, experiments with open access will inevitably lead us toward enduring solutions. A number of SPARC’s publishing partners have already achieved success as peer-reviewed open access journals (see http://www.arl.org/sparc/core/index.asp?page=c0) and have signed BOAI as well. Working with SPARC partners, affiliates, and members, we will expand on existing efforts to demonstrate on a broader scale the possibility, benefits, and financial underpinning of new economic models for supporting the cost of publication. We also will work actively with libraries and universities to facilitate partnerships and explore their roles in enhancing the effectiveness of scholarly communication. BOAI builds on the work of societies, university presses, and others who have demonstrated the possibility and sustainability of affordable access models.

Budapest Open Access Initiative supported by the Open Society Institute’s Information Program February 14, 2002

The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), released today, aims to accelerate progress in the international effort to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet. The BOAI arises from a meeting convened in Budapest by the Open Society Institute (OSI). The OSI Information Program is committing funding of 1 million US dollars per year for three years in support of open access projects. Funding will include support for:

the development of business models and plans for sustainable self-archiving and open access publishing;

use of library networks (like the Electronic Information for Libraries consortium, currently covering 40 countries – see http://www.eifl.net/) to mobilize support for open access globally;

support for researchers in low and middle income countries to publish in open-access journals which charge up front fees; development of software tools and templates for open access publishing, self-archiving, indexing and navigation;

promotion of the open access philosophy among foundations and donors, science and research funding agencies, libraries and universities, as well as governments, policymakers and international organizations worldwide.

OSI may also, at a later stage, provide direct seed funding to certain types of open access and self-archiving initiatives. The Initiative has been signed by the Budapest participants and hundreds of individuals and organizations from around the world, including scientists and researchers, universities, laboratories, libraries and library organizations, foundations, journals, publishers, and learned societies. The Initiative can be viewed at (http://www.soros.org/openaccess). The site also contains the list of signatories, suggestions for action, and a comprehensive “frequently asked questions” document. Individuals and institutions are encouraged to use this interactive website to sign the Initiative and learn how they can help to advance the movement. OSI is a private operating and grant-making foundation that develops and implements a range of programs in civil society, education, media, public health and human and women’s rights, as well as social, legal, and economic reform. OSI is at the center of an informal network of foundations and organizations active in more than 50 countries worldwide that supports a range of programs. Established in 1993 by investor and philanthropist George Soros, OSI operates network-wide programs, grant-making activities, and other international initiatives. OSI provides support and assistance to Soros foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Haiti, Mongolia, South, Southern and West Africa, and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.soros.org/. The OSI Information Program oversees and coordinates the network’s activities in areas such as internet policy, library and publishing support, and access to information. For further information, please contact Melissa Hagemann, e: mhagemann@sorosny.org.